Bristol County, Rhode Island
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 28 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1970; 1 is also National Historic Landmark. Most listings are in or near Bristol, Barrington, Warren.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for Rhode Island is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Bristol titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP15 of 28 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
28 listed properties
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBBristol was formed in 1747 (1747-02-17) from BRISTOL (Mass.
[17 February 1746/1747] BRISTOL created from BRISTOL (Mass.) when Rhode Island implemented the 1746 royal settlement of the boundary with Massachusetts.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusBristol County population from 1790 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1790 | 1800 | 1820 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,211 | 3,801 | 5,637 | 6,476 | 8,907 | 11,394 | 13,144 | 23,113 | 25,548 | 29,079 | 37,146 | 46,942 | 50,648 | 50,793 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Roger Williams National Memorial | National Memorial | 17.2 km |
| New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park | National Historical Park | 31.3 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS27 cemeteries and 2 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 27 of 27 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Allin Burial Ground |
| Benjamin Barton Lot |
| Butterworth Cemetery |
| Captain Benjamin Barton Lot |
| Captain Nathan Munro Junior Lot |
| Congregational Church Cemetery |
| Daniel Cole Burial Ground |
| Dr Walter Haile Lot |
| East Burial Ground |
| Forest Chapel Cemetery |
| James Mason Lot |
| John Brown Lot |
| Juniper Hill Cemetery |
| Kickemuit Cemetery |
| Mark Anthony De Wolf Lot Cemetery |
| Matthew Watson Cemetery |
| North Burial Ground |
| North Burial Ground |
| Obadiah Bowen Lot |
| Prince's Hill Burial Ground |
| Saint Alexander Cemetery |
| Saint Jean Baptiste Cemetery |
| Saint Marie Delcompo Cemetery |
| Saint Mary of the Bay Cemetery |
| Saint Mary's Cemetery |
| South Burial Ground |
| Tyler Point Burial Ground |
Historical populated places — 2 of 2
| Name |
|---|
| Montop |
| Sowams |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Bristol County, Rhode Island
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.